Bob's Fort Wayne area photo of the week

[Bob Durnell]

Just to liven things up, I thought I would start posting a photo of mine taken of my taken in Northeastern Indiana every week. Some will be old and nostalgic, some will be fresh and new, but either way, I hope you enjoy them.
Photo 1: This is December 2013 taken off the Edsall Street Bridge over the NS Wabash line.

[rrnut282]

Sounds like an interesting idea.

[Goalieman]

I like it!! Look forward to seeing your work!

[Bob Durnell]

Photo of the week #2. 8/20/18 CF&E MP 323 (Thomas Road). A Norfolk Southern freight climbs the hill westbound from Junction in a driving summer downpour.

[rrnut282]

Is that titled, "Notch 8 & sand?"

[Goalieman]

Love it!! Thanks for posting! Keep ‘em coming Bob!

[Bob Durnell]

2/22/13. Frozen UP SD70M units wait to proceed eastward at NE on a cold blustery morning.

[Bob Durnell]

Ex-Milwaukee "Bandits" waiting along Old Maumee Road. I don't have an exact date off the top of my head, must have been early 2000's.

[Bob Durnell]

PRR St Mary's River bridge looking west towards Junction. I had forgotten until I came across this old picture I took in the late 90's that this location in it's declining years was guarded not by a Pennsy Interlocking tower, or even a PRR Position Light signal, but an interloping NYC Tri-Light signal.

[Hotbox]

Nice photos Bob, if I might ask what type of camera do you use?

Also, specific to the last photo of the PRR bridge, do you have any thoughts on what the purpose is of the concrete fill inside the flanges of the two sides? Stiffener? Flame shield? ballast barrier?
If one proceeds west on this line to the bridges over Jefferson and Lindenwood, you find one of those beidges also has the concrete fill in the sides, while the other doesn't.

[Bob Durnell]

I have noticed the concrete too, and my only guess was that it to strengthen them in some way, but it seems odd to me. Also, on the rare occasions I have been up there, It amazes me how narrow that bridge actually is. Seeing it now with one track on it, it doesn't seem like there would have ever been room for two trains to pass, but of course they did.

As for my camera, the pre-2009 pictures were taken with an old Minolta Maxxum 3XI film camera, and what you see here from that era are rather modest quality scans of those pictures. I hope to get a new scanner this Christmas to do a better job with those old pictures. From January 2009 to January 2016, I used a Sony A330 digital, and from January 2016 forward, it has been a Sony A58 digital. All three cameras have been good, and capable of far greater work than the guy tripping the shutter. I enjoy photography, but I don't really have a knack for the nuances that separate the pixel butchers like me from the REALLY talented guys like John Troxler. I have tried and tried to master the manual settings on my cameras, even buying how to books and watching videos, but after a few pages or minutes, my eyes just glaze over. I keep reverting to the old method that if you take enough pictures, one or two will turn out OK.

[Notch 8]

PRR St Mary's River bridge looking west towards Junction.

The lines on the south side of the bridge were water lines or steam lines.. I know they ran parallel with the railroad for a short distance. I always thought they ran to the steam plant on the backside of the GE/BAE Facility off Taylor Street.. When was Mike removed ?

Mike

[Hotbox]

I have noticed the concrete too, and my only guess was that it to strengthen them in some way, but it seems odd to me.

Seems like the additional weight would negate any benefit of "added strength",.....but then I am not a structural engineer.

The curvature of the cement face is also a point of curiousity to me. Almost like it was intended to divert any impact up and away from the bridge. Could that be the intent? To keep any dragging car from hooking solidly with the plate girder and ripping it off it's bearings?

Seems like if that was the intent, you'd see the practice a lot more wide spread.

[Bob Durnell]

PRR St Mary's River bridge looking west towards Junction.

The lines on the south side of the bridge were water lines or steam lines.. I know they ran parallel with the railroad for a short distance. I always thought they ran to the steam plant on the backside of the GE/BAE Facility off Taylor Street.. When was Mike removed ?

Mike

Yes, it is my understanding that they were steam lines that ran from the Taylor Street powerhouse to the Broadway complex. I would be curious to know what type of arrangement Broadway had before the Taylor Street complex was built, and what they did after the steam line was discontinued. I wonder if the steam line was even used after Taylor Street evidently converted from coal to I assume natural gas.
I don't have exact dates, but I believe Junction Tower was closed and razed circa 1986, and I believe Mike lasted to roughly 1990. I'm sure somebody here could give more precise details. In both cases, this was a period when I wasn't really an active railfan, and both towers were leveled without me ever taking a photo of either.

[Hotbox]

I would be curious to know what type of arrangement Broadway had before the Taylor Street complex was built,

If one looks at the 1919 Sanborns, a fairly formidable power house is shown over between McCulloch park and the Wabash tracks. With a 225' tall smokestack.

It's been forever since I nosed around overthere, but I seem to remember seeing (circa 2003) long-abandoned coaling facilities..which at the time I just assumed they were a relic of some old coal dealer. But you wouldn't have to twist my arm too hard to get me to believe it was part of GE's physical plant.

(edit) The 1902 Sanborns even show the Wabash track nearer this area to be on a trestle with a coal tipple.